The vampire hunter
by Beckanita
Summary: Edward is going to meet Bellas mom for the first time but doesn t expect that the relationship could be more complicated then it already is. It seems as though he has met her before in a rather unexpected time and place. Inspired by Buffy.


**An inconvenient hunter**

I can´t remember the last time I was nervous. This day though, I was reminded of the feeling that usually is bound to the human experience. Why did I become nervous? I did feel that the meeting with Bella's mom wouldn't be as painless as the meeting with her father. Why, I didn't know at that point. As a vampire I have many abilities though we may not always understand the signals we are given. Bella wasn't nervous, so why should I? We stepped out of her car and as usual I lifted her out, ignoring her loud protests. I like helping her with small, from her perspective "unnecessary", services. It gives me the satisfaction of feeling that I protect her, constantly. Especially now that my mind was worried with riddles I hadn't solved.

We walked towards the restaurant were her mother would meet us for a meal. Bella was happy, almost bouncing while walking by my side, chattering more than usual. She had told me she was proud of me. This was Phoenix, her hometown, and she couldn't wait showing of her "stunning boyfriend". Her hair blew in the wind, making the wonderful scent reach my face. I took deep breaths so that I could enjoy her aroma every time I got the chance. The sky was cloudy, a perfect day! I felt her hand in mine, and the pulse that can only come from someone as alive as she was. I felt a heat that made me hungry and longing, but that I had learned to resist. Her shyness, that normally made her beautifully human and irresistible from my point of view, was almost invisible this day. As usual though, everybody stared at us, in that sense it was as in any other place.

As we approached the restaurant where we would meet her mother I saw a waving woman. Bella waved back, eagerly, and I slowly began to understand what it was that made me feel so nervous. I knew her face, I had seen her before. The eyes, the way she looked at me. I searched my memory for an explanation. I searched for pictures, and found some that didn't quite fit the context in which I now found myself. She must be a normal human; she couldn't be a vampire? What was she? She can't be that old, or could she?

She was stronger than me, and maybe older. It was an unaccustomed feeling towards a human, and therefore I remembered the only occasion I had ever felt something like this before. It was a long time ago, but the memory unraveled itself before my eyes, as though playing a movie.

I traveled to the foggy streets of London, the year was around 1920. The streets were crowded, it must have been a market day or something. My mind where as crowded as the streets with peoples thoughts, but when I looked into her eyes everything got blank. The only thing I felt was this huge hatred and I didn't understand the source of it. A shivering cold, as if I wasn't cold enough. She knew what I was, but what was she? Why couldn`t I read her mind? Why did I only feel hatred, and was that my hatred or hers? My head got foggy, dimly. I felt more things, and I felt scared, a very distant feeling for me, and the feeling increased rapidly, as if she controlled me.

I observed, as I did now, that she was beautiful, like a painting. As if she had walked straight out from a masterpiece of art. She had bright skin and bright hair that she had pulled from her face to her neck, collected in a knot. She was dressed as a man, with pants and shirt like an everyday worker. Her gaze was hard as stone, but otherwise a soft face. A few curls had fallen from her hairdo, hanging loosely. She was both hard and soft.

It was only a matter of seconds that I saw her, and I kept walking the direction I had intended. But something wasn't right. I felt that she kept looking at me. I glanced back and saw her changing her direction, walking the same way as I did. She walked fast, as though she was following me, which I knew she was. I increased my pace thinking that if she was a normal human she wouldn't be able to catch up with me. After a while I glanced again, as unnoticeably as I could. She was there; the distance between us hadn't changed. That meant she was either as fast as, or faster than me, unless she had run her legs of. Testing this theory, I increased my tempo again, I walked faster and faster until I decided to swiftly turn and escape into a narrow alley. I pressed my back to the wall, making myself invisible. Waiting. Breathing fast, an old habit. Caught myself and stopped. Practiced, appropriately enough, dead silence. Had she seen me hiding? Had she kept walking? Why hadn`t I stopped to defend myself, why didn`t I want to meet her? I didn't know how strong she was, but I didn't want to cause any attention, being already someone who easily caught eyes. Also, no matter what reason this woman had for wanting to hurt me, and of this I was certain, I didn't want to spill (or drink) innocent blood. The best choice I could make in this, for me rather unusual situation, was to run away. At least this is what I told myself then…

Speaking the truth, I was scared. Scared of the unknown, that which I couldn't understand despite my powers. After some time, I don't know how long, I climbed up the wall which I had leaned against, pulling myself up to the roof. Then I climbed and jumped over a few blocks to make sure I was hard to follow, even though my logic told me this was unlikely. I jumped down from the roof near a place I knew. It was a bar where I before had met some other vampires. I usually didn't enjoy the company of my kindred's back then, but I felt desperate enough for some reason to be longing for the protection that the company of those other vampires could give me. Just when I was passing through the door though, I glanced back and saw to my surprise and expectation the same woman who had been following me. She was pretending to talk to a butcher nearby who was trying to sell her half a cow. Nonsense, I knew she was hunting bigger prey then that. It seemed as though my plan to hide myself near other vampires worked though, both then and until this day. I forgot the feelings she had given me, until I met her this second time.

During a second, that was like an hour, I was pulled between my love for Bella and the will to live (or whatever you call it when you`re living dead). If I had a human heart, it would have pounded faster. If I had normal body signals, it would have yelled at me: Flee! Fight! If I had lungs, I would have trouble breathing, instead it ceased, not that it made any difference.

These were the images that traveled through my mind when I looked into the eyes of Bellas mother. I could not understand the fact that she stood right in front of me, the same age as me or older. It was the uncertainty that made me afraid, the uncertainty of who she was, or what.

I was awakened from my thoughts with a sound. It didn't quite fit in with my memories and brought me back to the present. It was Bella, staring at me with uncomprehending, fierce eyes. "Edward, why won't you say anything? This is my mother, at least say hi!"

Her mother's hand was politely stretched my way, though her eyes didn't match what the hand suggested. Those eyes had been printed into my memory, I wasn't mistaking. This woman, the mother of my girlfriend, was the same woman that nearly a hundred years ago had been chasing me down the streets of London. She was some kind of vampire hunter, of that I was sure. Unfortunately, I was a vampire.

And I thought this relationship couldn`t get any more complicated…


End file.
